Is deadlifting bad for your back? w/Squat University’s Dr. Aaron Horshchig

IF you heard this deadlift episode last week under the title “Why do people think squats are bad for your back?” go back and re-download that title and you’ll get the correct episode on squatting.

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How many times have you heard someone say they don’t want to deadlift because they’re afraid they’ll hurt their back? Too many.

Neither of us have had back pain issues caused specifically by deadlifts, so we tried to think of reasons that people might actually believe this.

Here’s what we came up with:

If your back rounds when you pull, are you more likely to get hurt?
Will improving your form protect you from injury or should you just “pull how you pull?”
What about people who don’t pull with good form and never seem to get injured?
What role do your spinal erectors play in the deadlift anyway?
Aren’t your hamstrings more at risk anyway when you pull?

Our ideas start about 17:00.

Aaron weighs in at about 24:00 with some wisdom from Dr. Stuart McGill’s work. We talk about the idea that your back maybe only has so many bends, the mechanism of deadlift (movement in and out of load), and the dangers of copying the form of random person on Instagram…or even of a top puller. Specifically, the movement flaws of deadlift freaks and elite athletes’ are not an excuse for you to pull the same way. We also touch on ways that strongman style deadlifts and stone lifts are different from a standard powerlifting deadlift.

As a physical therapist, Aaron works with Olympic weightlifters, powerlifters, Cross Fitters, international level soccer players, MLB and NFL athletes. He’s currently working with our friend, powerlifter J. P. Price.

We open the show with a conversation about just how good a movie (or food or whatever) has to be to make it worth paying for. Is just having a good time enough? Our trip down the rabbit hole of this topic includes The Lion King, McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets, the Avengers movies, Iron Man, Black Panther, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Trek, Star Wars, Disney Plus, and Steve McQueen’s Bullitt Mustang.

You can find Aaron at his website Squat University, on Instagram @squat_university, on YouTube

Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd).

Produced by Jim McDonald

Production assistance by Connor O’Neal.

Theme by Aaron Moore.

Branding by Joseph Manzo.